Gas Pain, Week of May 18, 2026

The U.S. average for regular gasoline slipped 1¢ to $4.49 a gallon for the week of May 18, 2026. Over the past 12 weeks it was up $1.48, from $3.02 to $4.49.

California was the most expensive state at $5.96, $1.47 above the national figure, with Washington at $5.59 and Alaska at $5.19 (West Coast excl. California regional average) next. At the other end Texas was cheapest at $3.89, $0.60 below national, followed by New Mexico at $3.95 (Gulf Coast regional average) and Mississippi at $3.95 (Gulf Coast regional average). The gap between the priciest and cheapest state was $2.07 a gallon, which on a 15-gallon tank was $31.04 for the same fill. The ranking counts all 50 states, with the regional average standing in wherever EIA publishes no state figure.

Colorado climbed the most, up $0.36 to $4.62; Idaho (+$0.21) and Montana (+$0.21) also rose. Florida fell the most, down $0.17 to $4.14; Ohio (−$0.15) and Georgia (−$0.06) also fell.

At the national average a 15-gallon tank cost $67.35 to fill from empty and a 26-gallon truck tank $116.74; think mid-size sedan and full-size pickup. That was $0.15 less than the week before on the smaller tank and $0.26 on the larger one. Of the ten states at the extremes, 7 were shown at a regional average, because EIA publishes a weekly state figure for only 9 states and the rest take the average of their PADD region. Every figure here was from EIA's weekly retail gasoline series for that week.